Anywhere But Here
by Mirrored Illusions
Summary: The world's population dies, most of them, and Buffy and Dawn are stuck in Britain.
1. Anywhere In the Scottish Highlands

**Timeline** : Anytime post-Chosen, anytime post books.  
 **Disclaimer:** The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon. HP belongs to JKR.  
Written for the _2017 August FaD_ , Day 17.

The apocalypse had happened with very little warning unless you counted the sudden and highly unexplainable exposure of all magic. It seemed like all over the world the veil keeping people from seeing and understanding that the various kinds of magic were, in fact, real and not simply fiction, fell at the exact time. People who had been exposed to magic and either rationalized it away or forgotten it, intentionally or with 'help', all suddenly remembered it with a crystal clarity.

The entire world had descended into chaos. Wars had broken out more or less spontaneously in many countries, the violence and murder rates were at an all time high, and religious fanatics began a new, literal witch hunt. The latter was made all the worse with the help of the internet. New websites popped up every day with names, pictures, and addresses of known and suspected witches and vast majority of them were simply normal people who for some reason had gotten on the wrong side of the wrong person/people. Some of them were on the list because they were rich and someone else wanted what they had, while others ended up on the various lists for no other reason than that they were randomly added by someone who just wanted attention.

The pandemonium lasted for exactly five weeks before people began dying by the million, literally. Every day for Buffy didn't even know how long, but one million people died each day. Some were killed by the witch hunters, others in accidents, but most of them just dropped dead. Their hearts simply stopped beating and no amount of CPR or any other kind of medical aid could restart the organ. The were no good reasons for why Buffy knew that; she just did.

Buffy had been in Britain at the time of the secrecy meltdown with Willow, Dawn, and Kennedy. Giles had invited them so they could get a good look at the Council Headquarters. Well, it was more like the bombed out ruins of their HQ, but he wanted them to know where the decisions had been made for the last couple of centuries now that things had slowed down a little. They also got a tour of several of the Council Estates, unfortunately, all of them were bombed in the first week after the Exposure. Clearly, the boys in tweed hadn't been as careful as they'd thought.

Giles, Willow, and Kennedy had all been killed when the RAF dropped bombs on the estate they were staying at while visiting Giles' home country. Buffy and Dawn had only survived because they'd been out Slaying. Or rather Buffy had been slaying while her little sister had supplied a running commentary on everything from the state of magic, to the vampires she dusted, and the shoes she wore that night. They'd had fun despite the need for extra secrecy, but it had all come crashing them when they saw the light show from the direction of their current home base.

All the borders had been closed and sealed tight, or they would've returned to the US, pronto. Not even Giles'/the Council's contacts had been able to get the four of them out of Britain. Apparently, someone high up in the chain of command in the land of tweed had made an executive decision that the Queen Slayer and one of the most powerful witches in the world needed to stay in Britain to defend it.

&&&

Six months after everything began Buffy and Dawn found themselves in Scotland, more specifically they were not far from Inverness according to the road signs. The world population had dropped drastically and while they had spent most of the time on the move they saw less and less people. Which Dawn had guessed had more to do with the unexpected apocalypse than the fact that they were in the sparsely populated Scottish Highlands.

That, however, didn't explain why they suddenly ran into a small family of four who all looked remarkably well-fed and cared-for, which was more than could be said for the two Summers sisters. The woman had curly, slightly bushy, brown hair while the the man had black, messy hair and a pair of incredibly green eyes behind a pair of glasses. The boy looked like a mini clone of his father, except for the lack of glasses, and the little girl had inherited both his eye color and his hair color but her hair was quite curly. Both adults were wearily holding a wand and looking like they were a split second away from casting spells in their direction.

They two Americans slowly put both of their hands up and to the side to show they had neither wands nor other weapons in them and the couple relaxed slightly.

"Hi!" Buffy gave the family a friendly smile, "We mean no harm. We're just passing through."

A look of surprise came over both of the adults' faces, presumably at her quite obvious not-British accent.

"You're American. Why didn't you go back when everything went bad?"

Both sisters frowned at her, but it was Dawn who replied. "The borders were closed almost as soon as the news broke. No one in and no one out. We're stuck here unless there's another way to get across the pond."

Before anyone could say anything else the man broke in, "I'm Harry Potter. This is my wife Hermione, and these two are our children Corvus and Bluebell.

Both women smiled a little at the names, not that either of them had any room to point fingers, but Buffy returned the introduction and said, "I'm Buffy Summers and that is my sister Dawn. We were originally in England to visit my old mentor, but, well..." She trailed off. There weren't really many conclusions to that sentence.

"We're sorry for you loss." The woman, Hermione, replied genuinely before her husband continued.

"Perhaps we should take this conversation somewhere less... I'm mean, it's too open and we'd rather not be seen. I'm sure you understand?"

A short conversation later and the six of them were on their way to what used to be a restaurant. Harry had promised to cook while they talked, and his wife had promised them he was a very good cook both with and without magic, but given their exposed position it would be done with magic so it would be done quicker.

Both Buffy and Dawn were hoping for an explanation for the apocalypse or barring that something which could help them survive and/or get back to their friends. They were magic wand users, so who knew what they were capable of?


	2. Anywhere We Can Live?

Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon. The Potterverse 'verse belongs to JKR.  
Written for the 2017 August FaD, Day 23.

Two weeks after meeting the Potter family the Summers sisters were still none the wiser regarding the reason for the apocalypse, or even if there was a someone or something responsible, or the fall of the magical secrecy, but Hermione had explained that the British Magical World had sealed its internal borders when the magical charms and rituals keeping the knowledge from muggles had shattered. Anyone left outside the borders when it was raised was left to their own devices. This had resulted in total isolation for everyone within its warded area, mostly purebloods and half-bloods with little or no connections to the outside world. In other words, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade/Hogwarts, St. Mungo's, and the British Ministry of Magic had all been sealed off. Isolated magical properties, such as the Weasley's property the Burrow, had also been completely hidden from view. It was possible to travel between these places, but not outside them. The assumption between Harry and Hermione was that someone in a supposedly super secret department within their ministry had raised the wards as a last resort to protect the magical population.

Five months after the initial fall these wards had mysteriously gone down as well, and both the official and private magical properties had all been promptly bombed and/or raided by the remaining muggle law enforcement or the military. Word had it that some private residences and Hogwarts were still safe behind very old and very elaborate wards and probably some (now) illegal rituals as well, but as no one had been able to enter, or even *see* any of them it hadn't been confirmed.

Wizarding arrogance had also been prominent as no magical people had died of unexplained causes until the second month when all of a sudden 48 thousand people had died over night, cutting Britain's magical population into less than half. It had caused complete panic among those who were still alive and inside the enclaves. No one knew what had happened to those who lived within muggle areas, but the purebloods had simply scoffed and said they'd probably been killed along with the quote unquote, filthy muggles. Interestingly there had been no purebloods left by the time the second barrier fell, at least not in Britain.

According to Hermione, there was also a second magical barrier, which was still active, around the British Isles. Its single purpose was to keep any and all magical people and creatures on their original side of the barrier. In other words; no one magical could enter Britain and no one magical could *leave* Britain. Meaning the two sisters were stuck unless this ward fell as well, and if that happened the entire country would be open to whoever wanted to come, and there would be no one to stop them and no one to protect those remaining.

It had been a bitter pill to swallow, but if they were completely honest with themselves then they'd seen it coming. They'd known they were stuck on the wrong side of the planet, probably for good. Now they just had to make the best of it and simply hope that Xander and everyone they'd left behind in America was fine and that they continued to fight the good fight despite everything. For that was another thing; there had been a sky-high rise in vampires due to the massive number of deaths. It meant Buffy spent her nights Slaying alone while Dawn hid in whatever house they'd claimed for the night/week.

In the meantime, they were enjoying the hospitality of the Potter's. The little family was friendly enough, but weary. According to Harry, they'd lived on a small property in a place called Godric's Hollow, which was a combined magical and non-magical town, under a special set of charms to hide them from the 'muggles' and anyone else who wasn't specifically told where to find them. When the barrier had gone down they'd fled by a magical form of transportation called 'apparition'. And they'd kept moving ever since.

They'd tried recasting the charms but they never lasted more than three days and it was impossible to cast it more than once on the same house/property. It essentially meant they had temporary shelter, but that it couldn't be trusted entirely. In the 14 days Buffy and Dawn had been with them they'd cast it twice on houses they were staying in. The first time it had lasted the full three days but the second time it had failed after barely two.

"If we're going to last we'll need to find something more permanent. A large property we can defend the non-magical way, but where we can grow our own food and that has a fresh water supply. You know, fences, patrolling, old-fashioned defenses since we don't have electricity and your wards don't stay up for long. Maybe use some magical traps and the like since that works." Buffy had mentally been trying to figure out what to do for months now, but nothing appropriate had turned up yet and she didn't have the opportunity to google it.

"We can apparate everyone to various prospective properties, but neither one of us are really familiar with those. Me because, well, my relatives didn't really show me much of anything, and Hermione because it never really came up. We moved in together as soon as we could and never looked back. After some legal issues with my parents' old cottage, we moved to Godric's Hollow and we lived there until it was taken over by the remains of the muggle government." Harry paused in his mini speech before he continued.

"I don't suppose either of you is familiar with somewhere fitting your parameters?" His tone was hopeful, no doubt he wanted to settle somewhere and not just for the sake of his children.

"Sorry," Dawn replied regretfully. "We're not familiar with the land of tweed or its available housing."

"What about checking to see if your old school is still there and still under protection?" Off their skeptical looks, Buffy continued quickly. "No, listen; you said the school is more or less self-sufficient, right?"

At their affirmative responses she went on, "That means it has food, a warm place to stay, medicine, and other supplies we need. If it isn't there, well, at least we tried. If we don't check to make sure we could lose a great opportunity. Even if the wards are down it doesn't mean the place has been bombed or raided, there might not be enough people or fuel left for anyone to get up that high."

It was a long shot, but from what the couple had said about the place it was pretty much perfect for what they needed. Apart from where it was located high up in the Scottish Highlands and it got really cold there. The discussion went on for several days, debating back and forth about the pro's and con's of attempting what the Potter's had already concluded was a lost cause. Wheather or not it was worth it for them to perhaps see the castle in ruins for the second time.

In the end, it was decided that they would spend another week gathering supplies and then Harry would create a portkey to transport all of them to just outside Hogsmeade, the nearby all-magical village.


	3. Anywhere We're Hidden

**Disclaimer:** The Buffyverse belong to Joss Whedon. HP belongs to JKR

 _Written for the 2017 August FaD, Day 29._

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a bombed out ruin, just like the nearby village of Hogsmeade had been. Even after seeing the remains of the village they had soldiered on, hoping for a miracle. The castle had stood for over a millennium and it had withstood several magical wars and sieges, and what had finally destroyed it was a muggle bomb.

The six of them were standing on what had been the front lawn of the castle; two former students, two American's who hadn't even known about the school a fortnight ago, and two young magical children who would never attend the world's oldest magical school.

"We should go through the debris, see if there's anything we can salvage. Magical objects, books, something." Hermione looked like all her dreams had finally shattered, but then she shook herself and determination filled her face and entire attitude. "There might be something edible since we know it's just the wards that went down, preservation charms are not a ward. Not really."

No one objected and they quickly spread about six feet apart and then they began searching, even the children were participating even if they didn't really understand what was going on. Several hours later they had mostly just found the remains of students and several professors who had perished in the attack. Schoolbooks and library books were all collected and put in a sperate bag which Harry had charmed with some kind of expansion and featherlight charms. Those would've been nifty back in the day when Buffy was younger, back in high school and college, and then traveling around the US with Faith Slaying vampires and demons, and partying in between. Packing everything into something which could literally be the size of a wallet would've made everything so much easier.

Now they had two sets of bags; one for books and writing supplies, one for magical objects (including wands), one for food and drinks, one for clothes and accessories, and a fifth for anything else that might be useful to them. The children had a separate bag, just for them. They weren't really old enough to understand what they were looking for, but they might still find something which could come in handy.

They spent the next week going through most of the ruins and burying the bodies of anyone they found. In the end, they found the earthly remains of 265 students and all twelve members of staff. Neither of the Potter's knew if that were all of the students or if some of them had been called home to their families when the news broke. It seemed likely as when Harry and Hermione had attended there had been just over 300 students, but there had been an increase in attendance since then.

While they had been searching Buffy and Dawn had encouraged their fellow adults to tell them about the school, the people they'd known while attending, what they'd been up to during their school years, and what they'd done since graduating. It was part of the grieving process and after a few false starts, it had slowly begun working. It would take time, but from all appearances, they were strong people and would prevail.

It was on the eighth day, which they had decided to take off, when Harry suddenly had an idea, one that originally mystified both of the Summers sisters.

"The Chamber of Secrets!"

"What?" All three women look at him in confusion, although for different reasons.

"What's the Chamber of Secrets? And it better not be sex related, mister." It was Harry's turn to look mystified at Dawn's comment.

Unsurprisingly it was Hermione who gave an explanation, and like in some of her earlier explanation it sounded like she was reciting something verbatim. "The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing. Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."

Harry leaned towards Buffy and stage-whispered to her, "I'm pretty certain that's exactly how our History of Magic professor said it back in our third year, except he made it sound dead boring."

"Prat."

An amused smirk and then, "I love you." The sentiment was reciprocated and both Buffy and Dawn grinned at them.

"You two are adorable."

"Yes, yes." Hermione smiled a little at the compliment, "But back to the point. What about the Chamber? It's under several tonnes of rock."

"True, but we don't actually know if the bomb destroyed the ground floor/roof of the Chamber. We've been walking on the floor for a week and there's no depression like there should've been. There's no blast crater or anything like that. Slytherin probably used all kinds of spells to both protect and hide it. But I bet some of those spells were designed to withstand the entire castle falling on it. The wizard was reported to be the epitome of ambition and cunning, and he wanted his heir to be able to open it, so it had to be able to withstand time."

Hermione's eyes lit up, "If it's still there it'll be the perfect hiding place. No one will expect someone to hide down there, especially not under the ruins of Hogwarts. Anyone coming by will just see that someone tried to clean the place up a bit, maybe pay the last respect to the dead before moving on. We won't even need to put up wards or spells!" By the end of her little speech she was grinning, and Harry was as well before he sobered up a bit.

"We still need to find an entrance from the outside, but I'm sure there is at least one. The basilisk would need to be able to hunt every now and then, even if it was in hibernation for most of the last millennia. Slytherin probably also had a secret entrance for when he didn't want the other Founders to know where and when he was coming and going. Both of those should be visible, but I might need to use Parseltongue to actually get it open."

"You need a tongue in a package to do what?" Buffy had sort-of been able to follow most of that, but that last part had been more than a little confusing. Even Dawn didn't seem to have been able to understand that part if her frown was any indication.

Harry laughed a little, "Parseltongue is a fancy word for snake language. I can speak in hisses and understand when snakes do the same."

"That's so cool!" Dawn was grinning from ear to ear at this little tidbit of new knowledge but was derailed a little by Buffy's look.

"Okay, but let's see if we can find this chamber."

The next few days were spent searching and finally, on the fourth day they were successful and were even able to enter. It took even longer to make the place habitable, but to their surprise, it consisted of more than the two rooms Harry had already told them about. It was actually an expansive apartment running under the entire castle and even under part of the grounds.

The six of them made themselves at home, while carefully trying to clean up the castle grounds.


End file.
